Retractable housing assembly for clutches and the like



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RETRACTABLE HOUSING ASSEMBLY FOR CLUTCHES AND THE LIKE Filed July 11, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Alba/'7 (/emenf;

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RETRACTABLE HOUSING ASSEMBLY FOR CLUTCHES AND THE LIKE Filed July 11, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 l N VENT OR. A/ber) (/6 0780*;

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RETRACTABLE HOUSING ASSEMBLY FOR CLUTCHES AND THE LIKE Filed July 11, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Flfi. i. m

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' RETRACTABLE HOUSING ASSEMBLY FOR CLUTCHES AND THE LIKE Filed July 11, 1962 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR. lberf (/Bmenfs @ez? Q21;

ATTORNEY:

United States Patent 3,171,525 RETRACTABLE HOUSING ASSEMBLY FGR CLUTCHES AND THE LIKE Albert Clements, Hamilton, Ohio, assignor to Baldwin- Lirna-Hamiiton Corporation, Philadelphia, Pa, a corporation of Pennsylvania Filed July 11, 1962, Ser. No. 209,815 1 Claim. (Cl. 192-110) This invention pertains to a two-speed drive mechanism and more particularly to a drive incorporating two fluid or pneumatically operated clutches in which power is transmitted through members which are operatively engaged with other members by being moved in the same direction.

Two-speed drives are widely used with large power presses. During an initial portion of a power stroke of a press, a fast speed is preferred to move an upper die quickly down nearly to the point of closure against a lower die. A slow speed is then used during a metal forming portion of the stroke when the dies are closed and a considerable force is required. After the metal forming operation, a fast return stroke is preferred to hasten completion of the cycle.

In this type of operation, fast advance, slow draw or form, and fast return, more productive strokes per minute can be had without increasing the working speed of the press. The working speed of the press is limited by the capacity of the material to be drawn or deformed without tearing.

To achieve this type of power stroke, two separate clutches are commonly employed which are engaged by air cylinders, solenoids, or other actuating means. Because of wear or misalignment, for example of the actuating means, synchronism of the engagement of the clutches is destroyed and the operation of the clutches either overlaps or is spaced so that there is a time lag therebetween. In the former case, one of the clutches must slip, causing that clutch face to heat up and wear excessively. In the latter case, the machinery being driven slows down or even stops during the time lag and the second clutch must then engage and drive the slowly moving, or stationary parts which causes slippage and rapid wear and heating on the clutch faces during the initial portion of the engagement.

Two-speed drives have numerous other applications in which these and similar problems arise.

According to one important feature of the invention the parts are arranged to enable easy access to the clutch members for maintenance or inspection without requiring dismantling of the clutches. The fluid conduits, diaphragms, and packing are also easily accessible with the new drive of the present invention.

A further object is to provide a drive in which all wearing parts are easily accessible for replacement or inspection.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description of a particular embodiment thereof, reference being made to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a side view, partially in cross-section, of a gear train and a drive embodying the invention;

FIGURE 2 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of the drive of FIGURE 2 showing a clutch therein in operative engagement;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view similar to FIGURE 3 but showing another clutch therein in operative engagement;

FIGURE 5 is a detailed, cross-sectional view of a fluid 3,171,525 Patented Mar. 2, 1965 coupling or inlet which may be employed with the drive;

FIGURE 6 is a detailed view of a portion of a clutch spider used with the drive of FIGURES 14; and

FIGURE 7 is a cross-sectional view similar to FIGURE 2 but showing portions thereof displaced to enable easy access for the replacement of wearing parts.

A specific embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. A shaft 11 (FIG. 1) drives a power press or other apparatus through appropriate gears or other mechanism. The shaft 11 is connected to a high speed gear 12 and a low speed gear 13 which are respectively operatively engaged with high speed and low speed pinions 14 and 15. The pinion 14 is aflixed to a shaft 16, only a portion of which is shown. The other end of this shaft may be free or connected to a brake or another gear. The pinion 15 is connected to an annular shaft 17 which is concentrically located about the shaft 16. The shafts 16 and 17 are supported by an appropriate support bracket 18, with the shaft 17 supported in a tubular portion 19 (FIG. 2) of the bracket 18by suitable antifriction bearings 20 and 21 while the shaft 16 is supported in an outer flanged portion 22 (FIG. 1) of the bracket 18 and in the shaft 17 by bearings 23 and 24.

A drive housing 25 may be provided with suitable grooves for V-belts or with other means by which the housing 25 can be driven by a drive motor (not shown). The housing 25 comprises inner, center and outer sections 26, 27 and 28. The section 28 is separable from the section 27 to provide easy access to the interior of the housing 25 as will be more fully discussed subsequently. Sections 26 and 27 are separable principally for easier manufacture. The inner section 26 has a flange 29 concentrically located with respect to the tubular portion 1h of the bracket 13 and is rotatably supported thereby through bearings 30 and 31.

A circular plate 32 is attached to the outer section 28 and carries or contains fluid passages 33 and 34 which communicate with inner and outer annular recesses 35 and 36 and inner and outer annular diaphragms 37 and 38, respectively. An inner, annular piston 39, located in an inner, annular recess 40 in the outer housing section 28, is held outwardly against the inner diaphragm 37 by springs 41, and is moved inwardly against the springs when sufficient pressure is exerted on the diaphragm 37. A forward clutch member or ring 42 is operatively connected to the inner piston 39 through stems 43 and has a wear face 44 which is engageable with friction segments 45 (see also FIG. 6) of a front spider 46 attached to the shaft 16. When the forward clutch ring 42 moves inwardly (see FIG. 3), the segments 45 are clamped in clutching engagement between the wear face 44 of the clutch ring 42 and a slidable, center clutch member or ring 47 which enables a maximum surface of the segments 45 to be contacted. The slidable ring 47 is splined at 48 to the center housing section 27 and is urged to a position against a shoulder 49 of the center section 27 by heavy springs 50. When the clutch ring 42 is moved inwardly by reason of air pressure behind the annular piston 39, a drive is established from the housing through the ring 47 and the forward clutch disk 46 to the shaft 16.

The slidable center ring 47 bears against actuating pins 51 which also engage an outer annular piston 52 in an outer annular recess 53. The piston 52 is moved inwardly when sufficient fluid pressure is applied to the diaphragm through passage 34 to overcome the force of the springs 50. The slidable ring 47 is then moved away from the forward spider 46 (see FIG. 4) and into engagement with friction segments 54 of a second or rear spider 55 connected to the outer concentric shaft 17. The friction segments 54 which may be normally in slight, slidable contact with a wear face 56 of a rear clutch ring 57 3 are thus moved into clutching engagement with the ring 47 and the wear face 56 and a drive connection is established between the housing 25 and the shaft 17.

The area of the outer diaphragm 33 is preferably larger than that of the inner diaphragm 37 since the force exerted on the diaphragm 38 must'be large enough to overcome the force of the heavy springs Stlwhile the force exerted on the diaphragm 37'rnust be less than the force of the springs 50. With this design, the shaft 11 can be instantly changed-from low speed rotation tohigh speed rotation even with fluidpressure being constantly applied to the inner diaphragm 37. .Thus with pressure on the diaphragm 37, the inner piston 39 is moved to its inner position so that the frontspider 46 is engaged between the wear face 44 of the forward clutch ring42 and the slidable center ring 47.- If equal fluid pressure is then applied to the outer diaphragm 38 so that the force created exceeds the force of the heavy springs 50,

. '4 4 which carries the friction segments 54. One or more access openings 77 are provided in the section 26 through which the mechanic can reach and grasp the ring 57 to V 'the ring 75 and its fastening bolts.

the slidable center ring 47 is moved inwardly to' engage the friction segments 54 of the rear spider 55 and at the same time is moved away from the friction segments 45 of the front spider 46-. These segments 45 will then be in only slight, slidable, non-driving contact with the wear face 44 of the forward clutch ring 42.- As a safety meas ure, the movement of the inner piston 39 is limited by the inner'recess 40 to prevent any possibility of' the forward ring 42 being moved inwardly far enough to engage ment of the front spider 46 and the engagement of the rear spider 55 being only the time required for the slid- V able center ring 47 to move a fraction of an inch, to its inner position. No critical timing is necessary.

The clutch members are preferably fluid operated. Fluid may be supplied to the passages 33 and 34 through a conventional rotatable fluid coupling 58 (see FIG. 5). This coupling consists of'two concentric tubes'59 anddtlforming passages 61 and 62 which'connect fluid inlets'63 and 64 to thepassages'33 and 34. The inlets 63 and 64' are located in a stationary casing 65 which is supported by the outer tube etlthrough bearings 66 and 67. The

passages 61 and 62 are'separated by an appropriate seal 68 and the passage 62 is separated from the bearings and 67 by a seal 69. The inlets 63 and 64 maybe con-' 1 nected to piping or tubing in which a'suitable valve is located to control the flow of -fluid to thejinlets.

"The segments of the front spider 46 are also easily accessible For this purpose, a plurality of guide pins 78 a are provided which extend partially through holes 79 in the three sections 26, 27 and 28. Tap bolts 80am removed and the outer section 28 with the "plate32 extended axially outwardly to separate" the forward clutch ring 42 from the front spider 46 and the segments 45.

Thisalso leaves a gap between the center and outer sections 27 and 28. The segments 45 are thus accessible through the gap and may then be. easily inspected or replaced. The guide pins 78 are left in position in a portion of theholes 79 in the center section 27 to serve as means for temporarily aligning and supporting the outer section 28 with'the other sections of the clutch.

The operation of the present invention is believed to beclear from the above description of a preferred embodiment thereof. Itwill be seen that theinvention provides a drive mechanism that is easily repaired and in 7' by said housing on one side of said spider, a second clutch ring slidably held" by said housing on the opposite side of said spider, means for moving said first ring toward said spider to clamp saidrspider between'said rings to 7 provide a driving engagement between said shaft and The concurrent direction of forces applied to the" clutch members enables all of the fluid conduits'and controlsto be at one end 'of' the'housing 25 for easy acces-;

sibility. Thus, the diaphragms 37 ,a'nd 38-.and the 'pistons 39 and 52' may be repaired or inspected simply by removing machine screws 70 which attach thecircular' 7 coupling 58 provides easy access to the fluid inlets also. 1 In 'addi plate 32' to the outer housing section 28. The

tion, the arrangement further provides maximum corn-- pactness and simplicity of the clutch.

In accordance with the principal advantagerof the pres-" V e'nt invention, the friction segments of the two-clutch f spiders are easily accessible for replacement or/in'sp'ec tion. 7 For the purpose of gaining access to the rear spider 46 the rear clutehring 57 is splined at 71 to a member 72 attached to the flange 29-of the rear h'ousingsection 26.

The rear clutch ring 57 is maintained in a'jfixed position 1 cl'osely'adjacent the rear s'p'ide'i' by a plurality of pins 73 means. Theconnecting-ring; is, in turn,'attached to the wall 74 by a plurality of'tap bolts 76 which are unscrewed to release the connecting ring from the wall' 74.

The ring 75 is then pulled outwardly (see'FIG. 7)' which 4 enables the rear clutch ring-.57 to be moved by;ame:1

chanic alongthe spline 71 and away from the spider 55 said housing, saidjhousing having an end wall on the side of said spider toward said second clutch ring and having a plurality of'pa'ssages thereinwhich are parallel to said shaft and equally spaced therefrom, a plurality of elongate elements slidably heldbysaid passages of said end wall and constrained by said housing for movement only in a direction'parallel to said shaft, areleasing ring 10- catedoutside said housing and spaced radially outwardly from said shaft, said releasin'g ring having means connecting said ring to all of said elongate elements with said releasing ring and. said elements movable as a unit and in a" direction onlyparallel to saidshaft, bolt means aflixing said releasing ring-t0 said end wall of said housing when said releasing ring is adjacent said end wall,

said releasing ring otherwise being spaced from all of said; housing, said elongate elements being of sufiicient length to abut said second clutch ring when said releasing ring is affixed to said housing, said housing having an access opening through which said second ring can be moved away fro'm'said spider when said elongate elements have been separated therefrom by said releasing ring,

whereby wearing elements of said spider can be replaced.

I References Cited by the Examiner UNITEDSTATES PATENTS 4/36 Tiedemann. 2,646,148 7/53 1 Matrot. 2,759,582 18/56 Dehn. 2 ,857,031 10/58 'Fawick 1921'12 XR DAVID J. YVWILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner. ROBERT c. RIQRDON, Examiner. 

